n Slovene Tolars, 4.5% of GDP (1992);
note - conversion of the military budget into US dollars using the current
exchange rate could produce misleading results

:Solomon Islands Geography

Total area:
28,450 km2
Land area:
27,540 km2
Comparative area:
slightly larger than Maryland
Land boundaries:
none
Coastline:
5,313 km
Maritime claims:
(measured from claimed archipelagic baselines)
Exclusive economic zone:
200 nm
Territorial sea:
12 nm
Disputes:
none
Climate:
tropical monsoon; few extremes of temperature and weather
Terrain:
mostly rugged mountains with some low coral atolls
Natural resources:
fish, forests, gold, bauxite, phosphates
Land use:
arable land 1%; permanent crops 1%; meadows and pastures 1%; forest and
woodland 93%; other 4%
Environment:
subject to typhoons, which are rarely destructive; geologically active
region with frequent earth tremors
Note:
located just east of Papua New Guinea in the South Pacific Ocean

:Solomon Islands People

Population:
360,010 (July 1992), growth rate 3.5% (1992)
Birth rate:
40 births/1,000 population (1992)
Death rate:
5 deaths/1,000 population (1992)
Net migration rate:
0 migrants/1,000 population (1992)
Infant mortality rate:
30 deaths/1,000 live births (1992)
Life expectancy at birth:
67 years male, 72 years female (1992)
Total fertility rate:
6.0 children born/woman (1992)
Nationality:
noun - Solomon Islander(s); adjective - Solomon Islander
Ethnic divisions:
Melanesian 93.0%, Polynesian 4.0%, Micronesian 1.5%, European 0.8%, Chinese
0.3%, other 0.4%
Religions:
almost all at least nominally Christian; Anglican 34%, Roman Catholic 19%,
Baptist 17%, United (Methodist/Presbyterian) 11%, Seventh-Day Adventist 10%,
other Protestant 5%
Languages:
120 indigenous languages; Melanesian pidgin in much of the country is lingua
franca; English spoken by 1-2% of population
Literacy:
NA% (male NA%, female NA%)
Labor force:
23,448 economically active; agriculture, forestry, and fishing 32.4%;
services 25%; construction, manufacturing, and mining 7.0%; commerce,
transport, and finance 4.7% (1984)
Organized labor:
NA, but most of the cash-economy workers have trade union representation

:Solomon Islands Government

Long-form name:
none
Type:
parliamentary democracy
Capital: